The Netherlands opened the score quickly.
In the first inning, Lisa Hop walked, as did next batter Suka Van Gurp.
Britt Vonk followed with a runscoring single.
With runners on first and second base, Charlotte Drijvers laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt.
This not only enabled Van Gurp to advance to third base, but also to score, thanks to great baserunning.
Vonk moved to third base and stranded there, as Czech starter Anna Zoulová struckout the next two batters.
However, the 2-0 lead was shortlived, as Czechia answered with two runs of its own.
With one out, Orange-starter Margot van Eijl walked Aneta Molenková, then gave up a triple to Michaela Pechková and a runscoring single to Barbora Saviola.
The Netherlands re-took the lead in the second inning.
Annemiek Jansen led off with a double, advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Marijn Crouwel and scored on a 2-out single by Lisa Hop.
The Orange Team added two runs in the third at bat off of new pitcher Adéla Linková.
With one out, the bases got loaded thanks to Dinet Oosting (hit by pitch), Sterre den Duijn (walk) and Annemiek Jansen (infield-hit).
Marijn Crouwel followed with a 2-run single to make it a 5-2 score.
Moments later, Czechia narrowed the deficit to 5-4 when the Dutch defense committed two errors.
Lead-off hitter Aneta Molenková reached on an error.
After the next two batters had flied out, a walk followed for Eliška Stejskalová, then an error on a grounder by Gabriela Slabá led to a run.
Slabá was replaced by pinch-runner Michaela Čurillová.
When the latter was caught stealing in a rundown, Stejskalová was able to score.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Czechia came alongside off of new pitcher Esmee Ames.
She gave up a lead-off single to Ema Vodičková, but struckout the next two batters.
Vodičková then scored the tying run when a fly by Veronika Klimplová ended in an error.
The game had a back-and-forth line score from fifth inning on.
In the top half, Amálie Chaloupková took over the Czech pitching and encountered no problems.
In the home half, Czechia scored twice to take a 7-5 lead.
Michaela Pechková led off with a homerun.
With two outs, Michaela Čurillová singled, stole second base and scored on a double by Ema Vodičková.
In the top of the sixth, the Netherlands re-took the lead again by scoring three runs (8-7).
With two outs, Suka Van Gurp was hit by a pitch and Britt Vonk singled.
Next, Charlotte Drijvers delivered a runscoring single and Vonk scored the tying run on a wild pitch.
Hereafter, Drijvers scored the go-ahead run on a single by Dinet Oosting.
After a pitching change, a walk/wild pitch led to Oosting being eliminated at the plate and ended the inning.
However, in the bottom of the sixth, the Czechs scored two more runs to take a 9-8 lead.
With the Dutch leading 8-7, Lisa Hop took over the pitching.
She walked Jana Furková and gave up a bunt-single to Magdaléna Kavanová, but followed with two strikeouts.
But next batter Barbora Saviola then delivered a 2-run single.
In the top of the seventh, the Orange Team struck again when the Czech pitching ran into problems.
Veronika Pecková, who had taken over the pitching in the previous inning, walked Annemiek Jansen, who advanced on a wild pitch.
Next, a walk for Sietske Drijvers also ended in a wild pitch, which led to runners at the corners.
After Damishah Charles, who ran for Drijvers, moved on a fielders indifference, the bases got loaded when debuting Amy Felix also walked.
Anna Zoulová then re-entered as pitcher.
She began with a strikeout, but then walked Suka Van Gurp and Britt Vonk, which gave the Dutch a 10-9 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, Lisa Hop retired the side to secure the win.
The following players came into action for the Kingdom Team:
Lisa Hop (DP/P 1-for-4, run, RBI, walk, 2 strikeouts), Suka Van Gurp (2B, 0-for-1, 2 runs, RBI, 3 walks, hit by pitch), Britt Vonk (SS, 2-for-4, run, 2 RBIs, walk), Charlotte Drijvers (RF, 2-for-4, run, 2 RBIs, sac-hit), Dinet Oosting (1B, 1-for-4, run, RBI, strikeout, hit by pitch), Sterre den Duijn (3B, 0-for-2, run, 2 walks, strikeout), Annemiek Jansen (CF, 2-for-2, double, 2 runs, 2 walks, caught stealing), Marijn Crouwel (C, 1-for-1, 2 RBIs, sac-hit), Sietske Drijvers (C, 0-for-1, walk, strikeout), Damishah Charles (PR, 0-for-0, run), Laura Wissink (C, 0-for-0), Amy Felix (0-for-3, walk, strikeout) and pitchers Margot van Eijl and Esmee Ames.
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Netherlands nips Czechia in opener Friendship Series
PRAGUE (Czechia) -
The Netherlands Softball Team opened the 2026 Friendship Series on Tuesday-evening with a 10-9 victory.
In this Series, the Orange Team plays four games against Czechia in Prague.
In the opener, the Netherlands Kingdom Team led 5-2 halfway the third inning, but trailed 7-5 after five innings.
In the sixth, the Netherlands re-took the lead in the sixth (8-7), but moments later faced another defecit (9-8).
Finally, in the seventh, the Orange-squad scored the decisive two runs.
Amy Felix makes her debut in the Netherlands Team.